Free Compulsion (Max Revere Novels Book 2) by Allison Brennan Page A

something to the court. His lawyer put his hand on Bachman’s, whispered something into his ear. Whatever he said didn’t seem to appease Bachman. He slouched in his chair and frowned like a reprimanded child.
    Warren didn’t ask any more questions and Charlene called the second officer, who corroborated his partner’s testimony. Then the paramedic who was first on scene, who reported his observations about Ms. Raines’s wounds, followed by the doctor who confirmed she’d been drugged with a depressant that caused memory loss.
    During the twenty-minute recess, Max quickly wrote up a summary for the Maximum Exposure Web page. She sent it to Ben just as the bailiff was about to close the doors. He let her slip back in.
    As soon as Judge Tarkoff was seated, he called for the next witness. Charlene called Ava Raines to the stand.
    Max had great interest in the next witness. Not only because Ava’s testimony could make or break the case, but because Ava had agreed to let Max interview her once the trial was over. Her statements—here in court and then in a personal one-on-one interview—would add even more depth to this tragic story.
    Ava was of average height, on the slender side, with long straight blond hair and large brown eyes. She wore a modest dress, a bit casual for court, but not inappropriate. She wore only a little makeup, which made her look younger than her twenty-four years. She shifted nervously.
    Charlene did a great job of putting Ava at ease. She asked a few easy questions. Her name, where she lived, then what she was doing staying in a hotel in Manhattan that weekend when she lived on Long Island.
    “It was supposed to be a girls weekend,” Ava said, “with my two best friends, Mandy and Ginger. We were all recently single and thought why not just go to some shows, go shopping, pretend we’re tourists?”
    “You stayed in the same hotel room?”
    “Yes, Saturday night. And we had fun—but then Mandy’s boyfriend called her Sunday morning and wanted to talk.” Ava rolled her eyes, then quickly glanced around as if that were inappropriate. “I’m sorry.”
    “That’s okay, Ava. Mandy’s boyfriend called and…?”
    “I had driven us, and I was mad and didn’t want to leave. I’m training to be a paramedic, and I’d just taken my certification test. I’d worked sixty-hour weeks for hardly any pay for so long, and studying—I deserved to have fun, you know? And I was nervous, because it takes two weeks before they give you the results. And Trevor called, begging Mandy to come back so they could talk.”
    “You and Mandy both live in Medford, correct?”
    Ava nodded.
    “You need to answer out loud, Ms. Raines.”
    “Sorry. Yes. We all live in Medford. We went to high school together and stayed friends.”
    “Did you drive Mandy back to Medford?”
    “No. I was mad and I didn’t want to leave. My dad gave me some money when I reached my required EMT hours, and I wanted to have fun because I knew when I got my certification, I would have to find a job and be the rookie and work longer hours. I wanted to stay and enjoy myself. We fought—it was awful. And Ginger got mad at me and went back on the train with Mandy.”
    “And you stayed.”
    “I had tickets to see Rock of Ages Sunday night.” She frowned and glanced down.
    “Are you all right, Ms. Raines?”
    She nodded. “Yes.”
    “Let’s go back to the afternoon you were abducted. Can you tell the court what you remember?”
    “I … that day has always been fuzzy. Because he drugged me.”
    “Objection!” Warren called.
    “Sustained,” the judge said.
    Ava frowned, and Charlene nodded. “Ava, let’s go through that night step by step, okay? What do you remember about Tuesday? Start with when you woke up.”
    “I woke up about eight in the morning. I went to the hotel gym, then came back to my room and showered and packed. I didn’t really want to go home, but three nights in a Manhattan hotel is expensive, especially